The completion of a hunter-education course doesn’t necessarily make the student a hunter.

In fact, almost one-third of hunter-education graduates don’t purchase a hunting license within
a six-year period of completing a course. Such was among the findings of a survey conducted on
behalf of the National Sports Shooting Foundation by Southwick Associates.

The survey, which used data provided by 12 state wildlife agencies, revealed the following
results from the years 2006 to 2011:

• Sixty-eight percent of graduates over the six-year period purchased at least one license.

• After six years, fewer than half (44 percent) of graduates still bought licenses.

• Graduates from urban areas showed the biggest dropout rates.

• In most states, graduates between the ages of 16 and 24 were less likely to buy a
license six years after graduating. This held true for college students and those in the
military.

“This shows us that simply encouraging people to obtain their hunter safety certificate is not
enough,” said Rob Southwick, president of Southwick Associates. “The hunting community needs
ways to encourage new graduates to buy a license and go hunting. Whether that means more programs
for state agencies to get people out hunting, private industry intervention, or simply more hunters
taking their neighbor’s kid into the woods, remains to be seen.”

Southwick did not provide a list of the 12 state agencies whose data were used. Ohio requires
that first-time hunters pass a hunter-education course.

Freak accident

Kyle Tanner, 24, of Fostoria, was fatally injured while foraging for mushrooms on May 11 on
private property in Seneca County near Bascom, Ohio. A companion who had separated during the foray
found Tanner with a head injury.

Tanner died shortly after being transported by ambulance to a nearby hospital. A Seneca County
sheriff described the cause of the injury as the apparent result of a “freak accident” during which
Tanner either fell and hit his head or was hit by a falling tree limb.

An autopsy was scheduled.

Parting shots

Carl Morris Jr. of Johnstown and Sean Martin of Blacklick took first place in a Cabela’s King
Kat Tournament Trail event at Kentucky Lake and the Tennessee River near Camden, Tenn., last
weekend. They boated two fish weighing a total of 89.42 pounds to win a prize of $3,000. …
Improvements on the boat-launch ramp at Delaware State Park are nearing completion. … Ohio’s spring
wild turkey season ends today at sunset. Through three weeks, the statewide harvest total was
14,484, close to the 14,458 take during the same period in 2012. … Elmer Heyob, an extraordinary
fisherman with a professional background in fisheries with the Ohio Division of Wildlife, will
discuss the principles of structure fishing at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on May 25, at the Cabela’s
Columbus store, 1650 Gemini Place.